Asbestos mountain fills Kate Valley

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More than 32,000 tonnes of asbestos-contaminated waste has been buried deep in North Canterbury.

The asbestos-contaminated waste makes up about 1.5 per cent of the 2.32 million tonnes of waste disposed of at Kate Valley landfill since it opened in 2005, with most of asbestos-contaminated waste buried since the earthquakes.

Most of that waste is in the form of soil, gravel or rubble that has, or may have been, exposed to asbestos during the earthquakes or demolition.

If a building is identified as having a risk of asbestos then a specialist contractor, on behalf of the demolition contractor, takes the waste to Kate Valley in plastic lined and covered bins - it is usually also "wetted down" at the time of loading to minimise airborne dust.

Upon arrival at the landfill, the waste is tipped almost immediately into a trench then buried by an excavator waiting on site.

The Health and Safety in Employment (Asbestos) Regulations 1998 state all asbestos waste is to be buried in a designated area within a managed refuse disposal site, and covered with at least one metre of earth.

Transpacific Industries Ltd landfill manager Rangi Lord said the landfill was triple-lined to prevent anything contaminating the surrounding soil, while asbestos-related waste was buried an average of four metres deep in a specifically dug hole.

"It is also surveyed so we know where it is and not to go back digging there in the future," he said. "We make no apologies for being overly cautious."